Feasibility of early outplanting of sexually propagated <i>Acropora verweyi</i> for coral reef restoration demonstrated in the Philippines

Ligson, Charlon A.; Tabalanza, Tracy D.; Villanueva, Ronald D.; Cabaitan, Patrick C.

doi:10.1111/rec.13054

Cited by 17 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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Section: Corallivorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, in a study investigating the susceptibility of coral recruits to predation by using settlement plates, parrotfish abundance was correlated with coral recruit mortality, attributed to accidental grazing, whereas butterflyfish abundance was correlated with juvenile coral mortality, attributed to predation (Penin et al ., 2010). Nonetheless, both survival and growth rates of juvenile corals increase with transplant size and time spent at a nursery prior to transplantation (Guest et al ., 2014; Ligson et al ., 2020). Augmenting the size of juvenile corals ex situ , thus decreasing size‐dependent mortality due to predation, may be preferable when considering optimal transplant size, despite the added maintenance cost (Raymundo & Maypa, 2004; Toh et al ., 2014).…”

Section: Corallivorymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interactions between coral restoration and fish assemblages: implications for reef management

Seraphim

Sloman

Alexander

et al. 2020

Journal of Fish Biology

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Corals create complex reef structures that provide both habitat and food for many fish species. Because of numerous natural and anthropogenic threats, many coral reefs are currently being degraded, endangering the fish assemblages they support. Coral reef restoration, an active ecological management tool, may help reverse some of the current trends in reef degradation through the transplantation of stony corals. Although restoration techniques have been extensively reviewed in relation to coral survival, our understanding of the effects of adding live coral cover and complexity on fishes is in its infancy with a lack of scientifically validated research. This study reviews the limited data on reef restoration and fish assemblages, and complements this with the more extensive understanding of complex interactions between natural reefs and fishes and how this might inform restoration efforts. It also discusses which key fish species or functional groups may promote, facilitate or inhibit restoration efforts and, in turn, how restoration efforts can be optimised to enhance coral fish assemblages. By highlighting critical knowledge gaps in relation to fishes and restoration interactions, the study aims to stimulate research into the role of reef fishes in restoration projects. A greater understanding of the functional roles of reef fishes would also help inform whether restoration projects can return fish assemblages to their natural compositions or whether alternative species compositions develop, and over what timeframe. Although alleviation of local and global reef stressors remains a priority, reef restoration is an important tool; an increased understanding of the interactions between replanted corals and the fishes they support is critical for ensuring its success for people and nature.

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Section: Corallivorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Corallivorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions between coral restoration and fish assemblages: implications for reef management

Seraphim

Sloman

Alexander

et al. 2020

Journal of Fish Biology

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show abstract

“…On the other hand, the size difference between the two size classes of coral juveniles before outplantation was no longer evident 4 years later. However, during the critical early months of outplantation, the larger coral outplant size may offer some survival and growth benefits (Toh et al 2014; Ligson et al 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The present study aims to determine the long‐term survival and maturity of sexually propagated Acropora verweyi coral colonies and builds on the initial study of Ligson et al (2020). This initial study indicated promising 1‐year survival (29.5%) of 240 A. verweyi sexually reared outplants after only 4 months rearing in ex situ nurseries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival and sexual maturity of sexually propagated Acropora verweyi corals 4 years after outplantation

Ligson

Cabaitan

2021

Restoration Ecology

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Most coral reef restoration efforts are carried out over 1-2 years, and few have assessed long-term (over 3 years) outcomes. Although studies of outplantation of sexually propagated corals have reported promising initial results, few studies have followed outplanted corals to maturity. Here, we monitored sexually propagated Acropora verweyi corals for 4 years post-outplantation to determine their survival and sexual maturity. These corals were outplanted when 4 months old in two size classes (small = 0.3-0.5 cm; large = 1.0-1.5 cm) at two sites in the northwestern Philippines. Four years after outplantation, the 240 colonies of A. verweyi exhibited 17.9% survival, with mean diameters ranging from 7.48-26.8 cm. Most of the surviving outplants were gravid (81.4% of the 43 colonies) with mean diameters of at least 11.8 cm. Higher survivorship was detected in the initial large size class outplants than in the small ones at the natal site, but not at the other site. However, 4 years after outplantation, there was no significant difference in terms of geometric mean diameter between the initial size classes or between the sites. Results show that 4-month-old outplants of sexually propagated corals can survive until sexual maturity and are already capable of contributing gametes for the potential recovery of degraded coral communities at age 4 years.

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“…In the initial stages of coral restoration research, direct coral transplantation gained popularity as one approach to rapidly increase coral cover by re-attaching coral fragments or whole colonies to degraded reefs [5,8,9]. As an alternative, an intermediate step of rearing coral nubbins in different types of nurseries increased the number of transplant materials from a few source colonies [10][11][12]. While this grow-out nursery phase increases the size and robustness of coral transplants, which may lead to higher post-transplantation survival rates [13][14][15], it also increases production costs from hatchery and nursery facility construction, grow-out costs, and outplanting costs [5,16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing coral recruitment through assisted mass settlement of cultured coral larvae

Cruz

Harrison

2020

PLoS ONE

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The escalating rate at which coral communities are declining globally requires urgent intervention and new approaches to reef management to reduce and halt further coral loss. For reef systems with limited natural larval supply, the introduction of large numbers of competent coral larvae directly to natural reef substrata provides a potentially useful approach to replenish adult coral populations. While few experiments have tested this approach, only one experiment has demonstrated its long-term success to date. Given the differences in life-history traits among corals, and different sensitivities of larvae to abiotic and biotic factors, coupled with the dynamic nature of post-settlement survivorship and recruitment processes, trials of the larval enhancement technique with larvae of different coral species are needed to test the broader applicability and viability of this approach. Accordingly, in this paper we examine the applicability of the larval enhancement technique to restore a population of Acropora loripes in the Bolinao-Anda Reef Complex, Pangasinan, northwestern Philippines. Larvae were cultured ex situ following spawning of collected A. loripes colonies in June 2014. Competent larvae were transported to degraded reef areas and approximately 300,000 larvae were introduced in each of three 6 × 4 m plots directly on the reef. Fine mesh enclosures retained the larvae inside each treatment plot for five days. Three adjacent 6 × 4 m plots that served as controls were also covered with mesh enclosures, but no larvae were introduced. Each plot contained ten 10 × 10 cm conditioned settlement tiles cut from dead tabulate Acropora that were used to quantify initial larval settlement. After allowing larval settlement for five days, mean settlement on tiles from the larval enhancement plots that were monitored under stereomicroscopes was significantly higher (27.8 ± 6.7 spat per tile) than in control plots, in which not a single recruit was recorded. Post-settlement survivorship and growth of spat and coral recruits on tiles and reef substrata inside the experimental plots were monitored periodically for 35 months. After 35 months, the mean size of each of the remaining 47 A. loripes coral colonies surviving on the reef substrata was 438.1 ± 5.4 cm3, with a mean diameter of 7.9 ± 0.6 cm. The average production cost for each of the surviving A. loripes colonies at 35 months was USD 35.20. These colonies are expected to spawn and contribute to the natural larval pool when they become reproductively mature, thereby enhancing natural coral recovery in the area. This study demonstrates that mass coral larval enhancement can be successfully used for restoring populations of coral species with different life-history traits, and the techniques can rapidly increase larval recruitment rates on degraded reef areas, hence catalysing the regeneration of declining coral populations.

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Feasibility of early outplanting of sexually propagated Acropora verweyi for coral reef restoration demonstrated in the Philippines

Cited by 17 publications

References 35 publications

Interactions between coral restoration and fish assemblages: implications for reef management

Interactions between coral restoration and fish assemblages: implications for reef management

Survival and sexual maturity of sexually propagated Acropora verweyi corals 4 years after outplantation

Enhancing coral recruitment through assisted mass settlement of cultured coral larvae

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